Phyllis Lyon, top, and Del Martin, in their home in San Francisco, Calif. on June 12, 2008, will be the first couple to be married on Monday as same-sex couples are granted the right to marry. Photo by Deanne Fitzmaurice / The Chronicle

What's for dinner: We have received word from the mayor's office that the overflowing garden in front of City Hall will stay put until Thanksgiving, when the food will be harvested and handed over to the San Francisco Food Bank.

Originally, the "victory garden," which is guarded around the clock to discourage hungry thieves, was to be removed by Sept. 21. But it's been such a success (read: lotsa good press, lotsa visitors) that Mayor Gavin Newsomdecided to keep it into November.

The plan is for a Thanksgiving harvest, said mayoral spokesman Nathan Ballard. The garden will be dug up the next week.

"By then, most of the plants will have lived their useful life," Ballard wrote in an e-mail. "We will harvest the seeds. Soil, materials and irrigation equipment will be repurposed in other city and school gardens."

The garden will live on, at least in some form. The city has partnered with Garden for the Environment on a two-year pilot project that will support 15 individuals and groups in creating organic, urban gardens in places like rooftops and empty lots.

- Marisa Lagos

Endangered golfers: As expected, there were a lot of fireworks at the recent meeting of a city task force charged with helping decide what to do with the city's five public golf courses.

A consultant has recommended turning the daily operations over to private companies. There are plenty of critics of that proposal, and some advocates want the courses made into something like open space or soccer fields.

The discussion turned nasty at a few points during the Monday night meeting.

At one point parks advocate Isabel Wadeargued that golf is primarily played by white men over the age of 45 - a statement that golfer Dave Dillerangrily derided as "racist." His response drew applause from the packed room, which admittedly was filled with a number of white men over the age of 45.

Even more entertaining was the discussion about what's more endangered: the San Francisco garter snake that lives at the Sharp Park golf course or the "everyman golfer" who goes there to avoid the $150 green fees charged elsewhere.

As one environmentalist pointed out, there's federal legislation protecting the snake, whereas golfers will probably have to develop their own law to find protection in court.

With the right lawyers - and there had to be a couple in that room - we're sure they can do it. After all, this is San Francisco. Anything is possible.

- Marisa Lagos

Who is that? As our Chronicle colleague John Wildermuthfirst reported this week, the first Yes on Proposition 8 ad, which features Mayor Newsom in a starring role, is bouncing around the airwaves and the Internet. So what's the mayor's reaction?

"How many people know me?" the modest mayor said Tuesday.

For a guy who's considering a run for governor, he sounded pretty serious: "Up and down the state, they're saying, 'Who is that guy and what does he have to do with the issue?' "

That might be a little extreme. Newsom's name, if not his face, is pretty well attached to the same-sex marriage issue at this point. But while Newsom didn't go so far as to say he likes the ad, you have to wonder if he doesn't appreciate getting the extra TV exposure. The worst he could say about the ad is that it's "rather weak."

"They could've done a better job," he said. "If that's the best they could do, they're going to lose."

Which brings us to ...: Del Martin, the lesbian rights pioneer who died Aug. 27 at age 87, will be remembered today at a City Hall memorial service that will mix politics, entertainment and personal remembrances.

Martin and Phyllis Lyonwere the first same-sex couple married in 2004 when Newsom started issuing licenses to gay and lesbian couples. And they were again the first couple married in San Francisco this June after the state Supreme Court invalidated the statewide ban.

Will the greening ever end? These days it seems like half of the news out of the mayor's office is environmental. Tuesday's announcement: They've hired a new "greening director" for the school district.

Nik Kaestner, who most recently ran the sustainability program for student housing at Stanford University, will get a combined salary and budget of $150,000 to coordinate environmental programs at city schools. Kaestner's a longtime environmentalist and was featured in The Chronicle two years ago when he and his bride opted for a green wedding.